121 of the best hiking and adventure quotes of all time

Posted on 25 February, 2019byPaul Ronto

From time to time we all need a little inspiration, so we’ve assembled the largest collection of adventure and hiking quotes on the web. These quotes are by famous naturalists like John Muir, adventurers like Sir Edmund Hillary, explorers, poets, industry leaders, and authors.

Some quotes are by famous climbers, others are about hiking, nature, or simply being outdoors, but all will light a fire for adventure in your soul.

So if you love the mountains, dream about winding trails, or just enjoy a good adventure quote, you’ll surely like what follows.

If you'd like to share any of the following images feel free too. We've added simple embed codes to each so you can easily add them to your own website as well!

John Muir quotes about hiking

#1: “Between every two pines there is a doorway to a new world.” - John Muir

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#2: "In every walk with nature, one receives far more than he seeks." - John Muir

#3: "The mountains are calling and I must go." - John Muir

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#4: “And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul.” - John Muir

#5: “Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn.” - John Muir

#6: "Of all the paths you take in life, make sure a few of them are dirt." - John Muir

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#7: “Walk away quietly in any direction and taste the freedom of the mountaineer. Camp out among the grasses and gentians of glacial meadows, in craggy garden nooks full of nature’s darlings.” - John Muir

#8: "Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home; that wildness is a necessity." - John Muir

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Adventure quotes from climbers and explorers

#9: “It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves." - Sir Edmund Hillary

#10: "You won, this time. But you are as big as you are ever going to get. And I’m still growing." - Sir Edmund Hillary

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#11: “Nobody climbs mountains for scientific reasons. Science is used to raise money for the expeditions, but you really climb for the hell of it.” - Sir Edmund Hillary

#12: “Somewhere between the bottom of the climb and the summit is the answer to the mystery why we climb.” - Greg Child

#13: “The best journeys in life are those that answer questions you never thought to ask.” - Rich Ridgeway

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#14: "To travel, to experience and learn: that is to live." - Tenzing Norgay

#15: “Getting to the top is optional. Getting down is mandatory.” - Ed Viesturs

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#16: “There are two kinds of climbers, those who climb because their heart sings when they’re in the mountains, and all the rest.” - Alex Lowe

#17: “Mountains are not stadiums where I satisfy my ambition to achieve, they are the cathedrals where I practice my religion.” - Anatoli Boukreev

#18: “How you climb a mountain is more important than reaching the top.” - Yvon Chouinard,

#19: “The more you know, the less you need.” - Yvon Chouinard

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#20: “Real adventure is defined best as a journey from which you may not come back alive, and certainly not as the same person.” - Yvon Chouinard

Adventure and hiking quotes from famous authors

#49: "I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived." - Henry David Thoreau

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#50: “You’re off to great places, today is your day. Your mountain is waiting, so get on your way.” - Dr. Seuss

#51: “Not all who wander are lost” - JRR Tolkien

#52: “My father considered a walk among the mountains as the equivalent of churchgoing.” - Aldous Huxley

#53: “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.” - Helen Keller

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#54: “People don’t take trips, trips take people.” - John Steinbeck

#55: "We live in a fast-paced society. Walking slows us down." - Robert Sweetgall

#56: “I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life you’re proud of. If you find that you’re not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again.” - Eric Roth

#57: “Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go.” - T.S. Eliot

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#58: “The end of all exploring will be to arrive where you started and know the place for the first time.” - T.S. Elliot

#59: “The danger of adventure is worth a thousand days of ease and comfort.” - Paulo Coelho

#60: “Adventure isn’t hanging off a rope on the side of a mountain. Adventure is an attitude we must apply to the day to day obstacles of life” - John Amatt

#61: “If we were meant to stay in one place, we’d have roots instead of feet.” - Rachel Wolchin

#62: “Attitude is the difference between an ordeal and an adventure” - Bob Bitchin

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#63: “Because in the end, you won’t remember the time you spent working in the office or mowing your lawn. Climb that goddamn mountain.” - Jack Kerouac

#64: “Every man’s life ends the same way. It is only the details of how he lived and how he died that distinguish one man from another.” - Ernest Hemingway

#65: “It’s never too late in life to have a genuine adventure.” - Robert Kurson

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#82: “You never climb the same mountain twice, not even in memory. Memory rebuilds the mountain, changes the weather, retells the jokes, remakes all the moves.” - Lito Tejada-Flores

#83: “I walked slowly to enjoy this freedom, and when I came out of the mountains, I saw the sky over the prairie, and I thought that if heaven was real, I hoped it was a place I never had to go, for this earth was greater than any paradise.” - Daniel J. Rice

#84: “On a hike, the days pass with the wind, the sun, the stars; movement is powered by a belly full of food and water, not a noxious tankful of fossil fuels. On a hike, you're less a job title and more a human being. A periodic hike not only stretches the limbs but also reminds us: Wow, there's a big old world out there.” - Ken Ilgunas

#85: “Set loose, a child would run down the paths, scramble up the rocks, lie on the earth. Grown-ups more often let their minds do the running, scrambling, and lying, but the emotion is shared. It feels good to be here.” - David Miller

Be sure to check out our other articles about the sports we love at RunRepeat.

***Feel free to use material from this page on your site, but please refer back to this original source with a link. Reach out to paul@runrepeat.com if you have usage questions or interview requests.

Author

Paul Ronto

Paul loves adventure. Over the past 20 years, he has climbed, hiked, and ran all over the world. He’s summited peaks throughout the Americas, trekked through Africa, and tested his endurance in 24-hour trail races. He has worked in the outdoor industry as a whitewater and hunting guide, gear tester, copywriter, and outfitting specialist at places like The National Outdoor Leadership School, No Barriers USA, and Sierra Trading Post. He has been quoted in NYMag, NBCNews, and Business Insider to name a few.